Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Question: Our lab performs high-risk HPV DNA testing for every Pap smear that has a result of ASCUS. What is the correct ICD-9 coding for this scenario, and should we report a different code for a positive rather than a negative HPV test result?

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Answer: If you perform the HPV DNA test based on an ASCUS Pap test result, you should report the ordering diagnosis ICD-9 code as 795.01 (Papanicolaou smear of cervix with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance [ASC-US]).
If the HPV test is positive, you should also report 795.05 (Cervical high- risk human papillomavirus [HPV] DNA test positive). If the high-risk HPV test is negative, you do not need to report an additional ICD-9 code beyond the ordering diagnosis of 795.01.

- Reader Questions were prepared with the assistance of R.M. Stainton Jr., MD, president of Doctor's Anatomic Pathology, an independent pathology laboratory in Jonesboro, Ark.